Drug and alcohol services

There is a range of services available in South Australia for people who experience problems with alcohol and other drugs, which means there are many options for people with differing needs and treatment preferences.

For information about all alcohol and other drug treatment and support services in South Australia visit knowyouroptions.sa.gov.au. This is a new website that provides individuals, families and health professionals with a directory of services and information about treatment options and selecting a service.

DASSA welcomes the input of its clients, their families, or others who are impacted by alcohol, tobacco or other drug policy. To find out more about how to provide feedback or have a say at DASSA, please go to the Community Partnership Programpage.

Youth Treatment Orders

Drug dependency can have a devastating impact on young people, their futures and their families, and can have negative impacts on the broader community.

The Government of South Australia has introduced new laws into Parliament to help young people and their families address drug dependency through specialised treatment.

The Controlled Substances (Youth Treatment Orders) Amendment Bill 2018recognises the importance of tackling substance abuse before children reach adulthood and aims to offer parents an additional option when it is clear that the young person is unlikely to voluntarily engage in treatment and may be a danger to themselves or others.

Clean Needle Program

The Clean Needle Program (CNP) provides sterile needles and syringes, sharps disposal containers and disposal facilities, information, education and referral for people who inject drugs. For more information visit the Clean Needle Program page.

Drug and Alcohol Services SA offers methadone, buprenorphine and other drug treatment programs as well as outpatient counselling for opioid-dependent clients, assisting them to reduce or abstain from the use of illicit opioids.

Outpatient counselling services are also available for stimulant and other drug problems. The unit also provides referral, liaison and support for private prescribers and community pharmacists and specialist education and training for health professionals working in the alcohol and other drug area.

DASSA Obstetric Unit

The DASSA Obstetric Unit is a specialist service for substance-using pregnant women and their partners from conception until after the baby’s birth. The service provides assessment, treatment, education, support and advocacy to ensure the safest outcome for mother and baby.

This service is provided at the Women's and Children's Hospital, Lyell McEwin Health Service and Flinders Medical Centre.

Telephone: 1300 13 1340 (8.30 am to 10.00 pm every day).

The Woolshed

The Woolshed is a residential therapeutic community for adults aged from 18 years with drug or alcohol related problems. The Woolshed offers a structured program to develop living, work and interpersonal skills through education, counselling, group work and recreational activities. It has associated halfway houses in Adelaide and links with self-help groups. The philosophy and operation of the therapeutic community are aligned with the Australian therapeutic community essential elements (PDF 120KB).

The program takes 3 to 6 months; a shorter program may be negotiated for those assessed as having commitments/needs which make the full program unsuitable.

The Woolshed accepts clients committed to living without illicit drug use. This can include those not receiving medication and those clients on medication assisted treatment for opiate dependence (MAT-OD). All MAT-OD clients wishing to enter the Woolshed will need to do so via a DASSA withdrawal unit. For more information about the Woolshed read the services brochure (PDF 1.2MB).

A 24-hour telephone service for general practitioners, hospital based medical practitioners or nurses and pharmacists in hospitals or the community, seeking advice in managing people with drug and/or alcohol problems

Referral to the Withdrawal Service for those patients for whom it is an essential first step can be arranged by staff at the metropolitan clinics and country services but the ADIS route is quicker.

Referrals from acute hospitals:

Direct transfers from acute hospitals to DASSA Withdrawal Services can be arranged for higher risk patients needing inpatient withdrawal, who have been medically cleared, are not subject to any Mental Health Treatment Orders, are not needing IV treatment, and are able to attend to their own activities of daily living. Transfer may be able to be arranged sameday, but is often deferred to the following day due to bed availability.

refer to your own Organization Wide Instructions regarding this, OR

contact your Drug and Alcohol Consultation Liaison Service if at FMC, RAH or LMHS, OR

call the DASSA Withdrawal Services Liaison Nurse or Coordinator (08) 7087 1700 between 0800 and 1700hrs seven days per week.

DASSA is able to provide a range of services for patients or clients referred by general practitioners, specialists and other service providers. DASSA provides ongoing care for patients and clients needing multi-disciplinary medical, nursing and allied health interventions.

Clients/patients needing less intensive interventions will be referred to other services. (e.g. those who have already ceased their substance use, or reduced it to low levels who are primarily needing relapse prevention interventions).

Referred patients/client will undergo an initial comprehensive assessment by a clinical staff member. Appropriate treatment options will be explored. The DASSA clinician will communicate the outcome of this assessment back to the referring service.

Clinical advice regarding ongoing care

Many people will have been well managed by their GP, specialist or other service, who may only require some additional specialist advice to continue with management.

Referring doctors can:

Call the Drug and Alcohol Clinical Advisory Service 7087 1742 (24-hours 7 days per week) for telephone advice as described above.

DASSA is able to provide counselling services for those people seeking to overcome drug dependence. Such counselling is usually given for people with complex presentations with the need for ongoing multi-disciplinary medical, nursing and allied health interventions.

Clients/patients may be referred on to services within the non-government sector depending on their needs. This will be discussed with the client and the referring service will be informed.

For patients/clients with opioid dependence DASSA can provide:

Review of people referred because of concerns related to their use of prescription opioids for chronic pain: A comprehensive initial assessment and a medical assessment will be undertaken followed by a letter sent to the referring GP with copies to other appropriate bodies, such as the Drugs of Dependence Unit. Assessment outcomes may range from advice regarding continued GP management to a recommendation that the patient is best treated with methadone or buprenorphine/naloxone due to the development of drug addiction.

Initiation of pharmacotherapy treatment: DASSA doctors are able to implement a range of pharmacotherapy treatments for dependence to a variety of drugs. Methadone and buprenorphine/naloxone are commonly used for long term opioid treatment. DASSA can commence and stabilise a patient/client on Suboxone and transfer them back to their GP for ongoing care if requested.

A take-over of existing treatment authority: DASSA metropolitan outpatient clinics are able to take over the authority for treatment for those people who become non-compliant or de-stabilised whilst under GP care. This may be a temporary or permanent arrangement depending on the wishes of the GP and the outcome from specialist treatment.

Other medication based treatments

Besides opioid dependence, some other substance dependencies can be treated with medications. For alcohol dependence, acamprosate, naltrexone or disulfiram are the more frequently prescribed medications.

DASSA clinicians can commence these and provide advice back to the referring GP or specialist regarding their continuing them.

Modafinil can be used to assist with methamphetamine withdrawal by DASSA services as part of a comprehensive treatment plan.

Referral back to GP treatment when stabilised

As with most specialist services, patients are generally referred back to their GP when their clinical situation has stabilised.

The Woolshed is a residential therapeutic community for men and women aged from 18 years with drug or alcohol related problems. The Woolshed offers a structured program to develop living, work and interpersonal skills through education, counselling, group work and recreational activities. It has associated halfway houses in Adelaide and links with self-help groups.

The DASSA Obstetric Unit is a specialist service for substance-using pregnant women and their partners from conception until after the baby’s birth. The service provides assessment, treatment, education, support and advocacy to ensure the safest outcome for mother and baby.

This service is provided at the Women's and Children's Hospital, Lyell McEwin Health Service and Flinders Medical Centre.

For initial advice contact the Drug and Alcohol Clinical Advisory Service on (08) 7087 1742.

A specialist medical and nursing service that provides consultation and liaison on alcohol and other drug related problems to clinicians in the acute care setting of major public hospitals in South Australia. This service is provided at Flinders Medical Centre, Lyell McEwin Health Service and the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

This is only available for these three hospitals and further details can be obtained from the following SALHN intranet page.

Young people and adults detected by the police for simple possession drug offences can be diverted from the criminal justice system into education, assessment and treatment through the Police Drug Diversion Initiative.

The Clean Needle Program (CNP) is an important public health initiative that reduces the spread of blood borne viruses including HIV and hepatitis C among people who inject drugs and the wider community. For more information visit the Clean Needle Program page.

The Community Pharmacy Program recruits community pharmacies to participate in both the Maintenance Pharmacotherapies Program and the Clean Needle Program. The program provides information, professional advice and support, while ensuring efficacy, safety and practice standards are maintained within DASSA and participating community pharmacies. For more information visit the information for pharmacist page.

The General Practitioner (GP) Program provides support to prescribers of medication-assisted treatment for opioid dependence ( MATOD) including the provision of training, clinical resources and education. For more information visit the GP Program page.

There is a range of drug and alcohol-related training options available in South Australia, for people with differing levels of qualification, expertise and interest. For more information visit the training and education page.